Streets of Fire (1984)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Walter Hill

Writers:

Larry Gross (written by)
Walter Hill (written by)

Release Date:

1 June 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Music | Romance

Tagline:

Tonight is what it means to be young.

Plot:

A mercenary goes after his ex-girlfriend, a singer who has been kidnapped by a gang.

Plot Keywords:

Motorcycle | Singer | Rescue | Motorcycle Gang | Mercenary

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Michael Paré	...	Tom Cody
Diane Lane	...	Ellen Aim
Rick Moranis	...	Billy Fish
Amy Madigan	...	McCoy
Willem Dafoe	...	Raven Shaddock
Deborah Van Valkenburgh	...	Reva Cody
Richard Lawson	...	Officer Ed Price
Rick Rossovich	...	Officer Cooley
Bill Paxton	...	Clyde the Bartender
Lee Ving	...	Greer - Bomber
Stoney Jackson	...	Bird - The Sorels
Grand L. Bush	...	Reggie - The Sorels
Robert Townsend	...	Lester - The Sorels
Mykelti Williamson	...	B.J. - The Sorels (as Mykel T. Williamson)
Elizabeth Daily	...	Baby Doll
Lynne Thigpen	...	Subway Motorwoman
Marine Jahan	...	Torchie's Dancer
Ed Begley Jr.	...	Ben Gunn
John Dennis Johnston	...	Pete the Mechanic
Harry Beer	...	Squirt
Olivia Brown	...	Addie
Kip Waldo	...	Waldo
Peter Jason	...	Ardmore Cop Harry
Matthew Laurance	...	Ardmore Cop #2
Sarah Marten	...	Woman in Diner
Tamu Blackwell	...	Richmond Citizen
Ric Moreno	...	Richmond Citizen
Antonie Becker	...	Richmond Citizen
Elizabeth Jordan	...	Richmond Citizen
Susan Cheng	...	Bar Patron (as Susan Cheung)
Vicki McCarty	...	Bar Patron
John Hateley	...	Poker Player
Rock A. Walker	...	Poker Player
Paul Mones	...	The Roadmasters
Vince Deadrick Jr.	...	The Roadmasters
Paul M. Lane	...	The Roadmasters (as Paul Lane)
Bernie Pock	...	The Roadmasters
Spiro Razatos	...	The Roadmasters
Jeff Smolek	...	The Roadmasters
William Beard II	...	The Attackers
Stuart Kimball	...	The Attackers
Angelo	...	The Attackers
John Ryder	...	The Attackers
Dave Alvin	...	The Blasters
Philip Alvin	...	The Blasters
Lee Allen	...	The Blasters
William Bateman	...	The Blasters
John Bazz	...	The Blasters
Eugene Taylor	...	The Blasters
Steve Berlin	...	The Blasters
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kathy Griffin	...	Concertgoer (uncredited)

Directed by
Walter Hill

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Larry Gross		written by
Walter Hill		written by

Produced by
Lawrence Gordon	....	producer
Gene Levy	....	executive producer
Joel Silver	....	producer
Mae Woods	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Ry Cooder

Cinematography by
Andrew Laszlo

Film Editing by
James Coblentz		(as Jim Coblentz)
Freeman A. Davies
Michael Ripps

Casting by
Judith Holstra
Marcia Ross

Production Design by
John Vallone

Art Direction by
James Allen

Set Decoration by
Richard C. Goddard

Costume Design by
Marilyn Vance

Makeup Department
Michael Germain	....	makeup artist
Dagmar Loesch	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Gene Levy	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Rob Corn	....	second second assistant director
Deborah Love	....	second assistant director
David Sosna	....	first assistant director
Victoria E. Rhodes	....	second second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Anthony Brockliss	....	assistant art director (as Tony Brockliss)
Ronnie Chambers	....	lead man (as Ronnie D. Chambers)
James M. Davis	....	construction foreman
Jaymes Hinkle	....	scenic artist
Martha Johnston	....	set designer
Johnny Lattanzio	....	construction coordinator
Peg McClellan	....	illustrator
Joseph Musso	....	production illustrator
Craig Raiche	....	property master
Mike Rutgard	....	lead man
John Schacht	....	lead man
Robert J. Schlafle	....	set designer (as Bob Schafle)
John Zemansky	....	property master
Robert Misetich	....	painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Richard L. Anderson	....	sound editor (as Richard Anderson)
Michael J. Benavente	....	assistant sound editor
John Dunn	....	sound editor
Stephen Hunter Flick	....	supervising sound editor (as Stephen Flick)
Walter A. Gest	....	sound re-recordist
David W. Gray	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
Rick Kline	....	sound re-recording mixer
Gregg Landaker	....	sound re-recording mixer
Vince Melandri	....	adr editor
Donald O. Mitchell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ginny Oliver	....	adr recordist
Charleen Richards	....	adr mixer
Gary Ritchie	....	sound re-recordist
Harvey Rosenstock	....	adr editor
Joan Rowe	....	foley artist
David E. Stone	....	sound editor
James E. Webb	....	sound (as Jim Webb)
Marshall Winn	....	sound editor
Shelly Yakus	....	special sound consultant
John Roesch	....	foley artist (uncredited)
Donald C. Rogers	....	technical director of sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Howard Jensen	....	special effects
Wayne Rose	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Tony Willis	....	effects cameraman (uncredited)

Stunts
Bruce Paul Barbour	....	stunt performer
Jerry Brutsche	....	stunt double
Bennie E. Dobbins	....	stunt coordinator (as Bennie Dobbins)
Diamond Farnsworth	....	stunt performer
Terry Leonard	....	stunts
Conrad E. Palmisano	....	stunt driver
Rick Sawaya	....	stunts
Eddie Paul	....	stunts (uncredited)
Rick Seaman	....	stunts (uncredited)
Greg Walker	....	stunts (uncredited)
Kyle J. Wood	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Lloyd Ahern II	....	camera operator
Gene Earle	....	first assistant camera
Robert Marta	....	camera operator (as Bob Marta)
Richard Craig Meinardus	....	first assistant camera (as Dick Meinardus)
Rick Neff	....	camera operator
Stephen Vaughan	....	still photographer
Michael D. Weldon	....	first assistant camera (as Michael Weldon)

Casting Department
Jim Green	....	extras casting
Carl Joy	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Robert Harris Jr.	....	costume supervisor
Dan Moore	....	costume supervisor
Deborah Lynn Scott	....	costume supervisor (as Deborah L. Scott)
Barbara Siebert	....	costume supervisor (as Barbara Siebert Bolticoff)
Phyllis Corcoran-Woods	....	costume assistant (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Donah Bassett	....	negative cutter
Carmel Davies	....	assistant editor
Barbara Gandolfo-Frady	....	assistant editor (as Barbara Gandolfo)
Aubrey Head	....	color consultant
Kelly Mahan-Jaramillo	....	apprentice editor (as E. Kelly Mahan)
Marilyn McMahon Adams	....	assistant editor (as Marilyn McMahon)
Richard Ritchie	....	color consultant (as Dick Ritchie)
Larry Rovetti	....	supervising color consultant

Music Department
Mark Ettel	....	score engineer
Scott Grusin	....	assistant music editor
Dan Hartman	....	singing voice: Mykelti Williamson
Jimmy Iovine	....	music supervisor
Jim Steinman	....	music arranger
Jim Steinman	....	musician: assorted keybords
Michael Tronick	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Ronnie Baker	....	transportation coordinator
Russ Dwyer	....	transportation captain
Frank Khoury	....	driver

Other crew
Rafe Blasi	....	publicity coordinator
Mary F. Galloway	....	location manager
Luca Kouimelis	....	script supervisor
Amy Luder	....	assistant: Larry Gordon
Harriet Monroe	....	assistant: Walter Hill
Suzanne Nupoff	....	assistant: Larry Gordon
Patty Raya	....	assistant: Gene Levy
Elaine K. Thompson	....	production associate
Marvin Towns Jr.	....	production assistant
Lisbeth Wynn-Owen	....	production coordinator

Production Companies

• RKO Pictures
• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Argentina Video Home (1985) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures

Other Companies

• Central Casting  extras casting
• Panavision  cameras and lenses
• R/Greenberg Associates  titles
• Universal Title  opticals

Runtime:

93 min | Argentina:95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:16 | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-18 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1984) | Singapore:PG | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | Taiwan:GP | UK:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:18 | Canada:14A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

RKO Pictures

Trivia:

This was intended to be the first in a trilogy of action films starring Michael Pare as Tom Cody. However, its failure at the box office had put an end to the project.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the stairway scene Tom Cody's hair makes a drastic change.

Quotes:

Tom Cody: Hey you always walk around packed?
McCoy: I told you, I'm a soldier.
Tom Cody: Well, don't go pointin' that thing at me, I wouldn't like it.
McCoy: I don't go pointin' it unless I'm gonna use it.
Tom Cody: Yeah, right.

Movie Connections:

References The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

Soundtrack:

DEEPER AND DEEPER

The Searcher's in the 60's.

This is a brilliant film that is much more than it should be because of one genius director - Walter Hill.

He understands and sets the tone and world of this pic perfectly - it has straight-forward, old-western style dialouge, clear good and bad characters and rip-roaring action that reminds you of the old classic westerns that Walter Hill admittedly loves, in particular the Searcher's.

I won't say much about the plot expect for a badboy returns home rescue the girl he once loved after she is kidnapped by a leather-clad motorcycle gang. It's pretty simple but what you have to watch out for here is Walter Hill's visual and editorial style which was probably the best around in the eighties.

There isn't any Oscar-worthy performances here but there was never meant to be none - Michael Pare does well with his limited John Wayne modelled role, Rick Moranis shows that he can play much more than the "nerdy-neurotic" character that made him world famous in the early nineties, William Defoe plays a better villain in this than he did in Spiderman and Diane Lane shows that she was once, the hottest woman in Hollywood (she still ain't too bad today!).

This film deserves more credit, votes, attention and DVD extra's than it presently has - definitely one of the best film's of the eighties.